When upgrading to a new version of Word.....

[OneGrassRoot]

I know, I know, I am gradually trying to transition to open source software. I have Open Office on my laptop, but for my "real work" being done on the desktop and where tons of word processing is done, I am using Word still.

But here's the stupid question of the morning (whenever I post, it's the stupid question of the day for you guys :) ). Believe it or not, I've never upgraded a program such as Word. I used WordPerfect FOREVER, and when my system crashed, that's when I converted to Word. That was in 2001. I'm using Word 2000 and need to load Word 2003 (I don't think kinks are worked out of 2007...I wait a long time before using something to be sure bugs are fixed...lol), but am wondering if I lose my autocorrect entries and things such as that? Or, is it a nice clean upgrade with all files and such remaining intact?

Thanks much. :)

[trotsky]

1. Word 2000 --> Word 2003 should be fine.

It's when you go to 2007 that there's a problem. MS in all their wisdom not only completely redesigned the user interface in the Office 2007 apps but also in the process changed around a bunch of functionality - the way autocorrect and auto-suggest work being one of the biggest pains in the rump.

However just in case, you can download & use the "Office 2000 Profile Wizard" which will export all your settings to a file that you can then use to restore them if the upgrade goes wonky:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/816003

[OneGrassRoot]

2. Wonderful. Once again....

I am very grateful that you're here at DU, trotsky. :)

Many thanks, and have a wonderful day!

[DavidMS]

3. Somthing to watch out for...

if you have any word '95 files lying around you will need a Registry patch to open them with the latest Office Service Pack (SP3). It bit one of the users I support when she attempted to open something with cobwebs on it.

It may affect other file formats, but I don't remember.

http://blog.wired.com/monkeybites/2008/01/microsoft-offic.html

[OneGrassRoot]

4. Ahhhhh, thank you....good to know. n/t